European universities awarded for excellence in supporting mobile students

65 higher education institutions from 16 countries are today awarded with special European quality labels in recognition of their efforts to make it easier for students to study abroad. These labels are given to universities which have shown excellence in applying the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) and the Diploma Supplement (DS), two European instruments that make teaching and learning more transparent and facilitate the recognition of studies and qualifications.

The ECTS and DS Labels for 2009 will be handed out tonight by the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Ján Figel', in the presence of Vice-Minister for European Affairs of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Jakub Dürr.

Explaining the significance of the labels Commissioner Figel' said: " Today's Label holders are outstanding examples ofinstitutions that are serious about European academic mobility in a rapidly-changing higher education sector."

The European Commission intends to organise annual application rounds for the ECTS and DS labels in the coming years. Applications can only be submitted by higher education institutions that have been awarded a Standard or an Extended Erasmus University Charter.

Of the 63 ECTS applications, 23 higher education institutions will receive the ECTS label. Of the 161 DS applications, 52 higher education institutions will be a holder of a DS label. This means that all in all, about one third of both the ECTS and the DS label applications have been selected. Ten institutions will receive both labels.

The ECTS label

The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) makes teaching and learning more transparent and facilitates the recognition of studies (formal, non-formal or informal). The system is used across Europe for credit transfer (student mobility) and credit accumulation (learning paths towards a degree).

Institutions which apply ECTS publish their course catalogues on the web, including detailed descriptions of study programmes, units of learning, university regulations and student services. Course descriptions contain learning outcomes (what students are expected to know, understand and be able to do) and workload (the time students typically need to achieve the learning outcomes), expressed in terms of credits. In most cases, student workload ranges from 1,500 to 1,800 hours for an academic year, and one credit corresponds to 25-30 hours of work.

Credit transfer and accumulation are helped by the use of the ECTS key documents (course catalogue, learning agreement and transcript of records) as well as the Diploma Supplement.

For now, the ECTS label only focuses on the correct use of ECTS for credit transfer, i.e. for mobile students.

Criteria for the ECTS label are, amongst others:

Is all relevant information for foreign students available in English (information package, course catalogue)?

Are the individual files of incoming and outgoing students complete?

The DS label

The Diploma Supplement (DS) is a document attached to a higher education diploma with the aim of improving international ‘transparency’ and of facilitating the academic and professional recognition of qualifications (diplomas, degrees, certificates etc.). It is designed to provide a description of the nature, level, context, content and status of the studies that were successfully completed by the individual named on the original qualification to which this supplement is appended. It should be free from any value-judgements, equivalence statements or suggestions about recognition. It is a flexible, non-prescriptive tool which is designed to save time, money and workload. It can be adapted to local needs.

The Diploma Supplement label is awarded to institutions which have shown that they provide the Diploma Supplements to students in a correct way. They have also given proof that:

The copies comply with the standard Diploma Supplement model

All students of the applicant institution receive a copy of the Diploma Supplement automatically and free of charge upon graduation.

The Diploma Supplement is issued in a widely spoken European language and, if so wished, in another language.